Device for registering business machines

ABSTRACT

Setting device for a registering business machine includes a keyboard having a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one of the machine run-selecting keys and the control keys being located on the keyboard below the transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a profile approximating the curvature of the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, the key head extending transversely to the columns of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of the columns of transaction-posting keys.

PATENTEDAPR3 "ms 3 724 750 sum 1 BF 3 PATENTEDAPR3 1975 3,724,750

sum 2 BF 3 PATENTEUAPRE? I975 3,724,750 SHEET 3 [IF 3 DEVICE FOR REGISTERING BUSINESS MACHINES This is a continuation of Application Ser. No. 809,055, filed 3-20-69, now abandoned.

My invention relates to manually actuatable setting device for registering business machines.

In US. Pat. No. 3,181,784 there is described a registering business machine having a setting field with several rows of amount posting keys, a control key row and a key row for selecting different machine runs. The keys of this machine are constructed as pressure keys and can be depressed into their operative position by finger pressure.

According to the state of the art, setting lever cash registers are known wherein the setting lever is actuated as a rule with the thumb in combination with the index and middle finger, as well as cash registers with setting slides or setting discs that are set in a similar manner (note German Pat. Nos. 558,695, 843,613 and 858,323).

ln US. Pat. No. 518,344, there has been furthermore described a key lever cash register wherein the key levers are turnably mounted on a common shaft and are actuated by finger pressure. Some of the key levers carrying the key buttons are cranked upwardly while others of the key levers extend straight outwardly thereby forming two rows of keys arranged in steps.

Note must also be taken of the control keys serving to free the machine operations as described in German Pat. DAS No. 1,071,990, wherein the keys are pressure keys provided with a curved or arched key-head profile which permits actuation of these keys with the outer edge of the right hand by rotating the lower right arm. Disadvantages of this type of key are that an enormous amount of space is required above and below the head of this key, and there is a necessity for effecting an additional rotary motion of the hand and lower arm during the adjusting operation.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a setting device for registering business machines which considerably facilitates the operation thereof by employinga new arrangement of specific keys on the machine keyboard having a special construction.

It is a more specific object of my invention to place at least one of the most often used machine run-selecting keys or control keysof a registering business machine, which requires a relatively high key-setting pressure due to the large number of control and blocking sliders associated therewith, below the conventional columns of keys and to provide them with such shape that they can be readily actuated with any part of the hand of the operator and preferably with the ball of the hand held upwardly at a slight angle.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, 1 provide in accordance with my invention setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one of the machine run-selecting keys and the control keys being located on the keyboard-below the transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a profile approximating the curvature of the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, the key head extending transversely to the columns of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of the columns of transaction-posting keys.

Due to the inventive feature of the new machine runselecting key or control key which extends virtually over the entire width of the field of transaction-posting keys, the arm of the machine operator conveniently remains in the position assumed for setting the transaction-posting keys. By eliminating lateral movement of the arm and otherwise decreasing the setting path, the speed of the key-setting operation is considerably accelerated.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described as embodied in setting device for registering business machines, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

P16. 1 is a perspective view of the keyboard of a cash register constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cash register of FIG. 1 taken along the bank of transaction-posting keys;

FIG. 3 is another cross-sectional view of the cash register of P16. 1, however, taken along the bank of control keys thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a cash register having a modified machine run-selector key.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a setting device 1 of a cash register 2 furnished with two banks 3 of transaction-posting keys for cents" and three banks 4 of transaction-posting keys for dollars or the like, a bank of control keys 5 as well as a bank 6 for selecting different machine runs during which different computing functions are carried out. The transaction-posting keys 7, 8 arranged in columns in the banks 3, 4 thereof serve for introducing sales transactions, while the control key 9 of the bank 5 with which particular machine functions are selected, has the construction of a simple addition key for carrying out calculating operations. The adding mechanismselector keys 10, which are used to register different merchandise, are associated with subtotal adding mechanisms ll, 12 (FIG. 2). The control key 13 serves for drawing subtotals from the totalizing mechanism 14 which, in turn, serves for recording account-charging entries transpiring in the course of a business transaction. The bank 5 of keys moreover has a key lock 15 which is set by nonillustrated keys which are provided inter alia for drawing the intermediate or final sum from the main adding mechanism I6. All of the aforedescribed devices are well-known in the art of registering business machines.

In accordance with my invention, 1 provide on the keyboard 1, below the transaction-posting banks 3, 4, a key 17 for selecting a given machine run such as a given adding mechanism, which virtually extends over the entirewidth of the banks 3, 4 of the transaction-posting keys 7, 8. Adjacent the relatively wide key 17, there is provided at the same level therewith on the keyboard 1, a control key 18 located below the banks 5, 6 of the control keys and machine run-selecting keys and having a similar construction to that of the key 17.

The wide machine run-selecting key 17 is associated with one of the subtotal adding mechanisms 12 and, during transaction-posting machine runs, in a same manner as the adding mechanism selector keys 10 in addition to the subtotal adding mechanism 12 associated therewith, controls the totalizing mechanism 14 and the main adding mechanism 16. The key head 19 of the machine run-selecting key 17 is formed with a profile 20 matching the profile of the ball of a hand whose surface is heldat a slightly upward angle. The width of the key- 17 extends over more than three columns of the transaction-posting keys 7, 8 and the depth or thickness thereof isla multiple of the thickness of one of the other machine run-selecting keys 10. The enlarged machine run-selecting key 17 can be depressed to its operative position either with the ball of the hand held e'xpediently at a slightly upward angle,

with the thumb or with one or more fingers.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transaction-posting keys 7, 8 cooperate by means of the key pins 21 thereof with the blocking and releasing slides 22,23 and by means of the key shafts 24 with abutments 25 of a differential mechanism slider 26, the driver 27 of which is rotatably secured to a pin 28 of an adjusting lever 29 of the differential mechanism 30. A tension rod 31 is moreover articulatingly connected to the pin 28 and drives the tooth sectors 32, 33 whose teeth 34 to 36 cooperate in meshing condition with the aforementioned adding mechanisms-J1, 12, 14 and 16.

The differential mechanism 30 is furnished with a tooth sector 37which meshes with a spur gear 39 mounted on the tubular shaft38. The tubular shaft 38 leads to a nonillustrated conventional printing mechanism. A bar 40 is articulatingly connected to'the tooth sector 37 and is in driving connection with tooth sectors 41, 42 which effect the setting or adjustment of the'indicator wheels 43 and 44. The drive for the differential mechanism 30 is effected through the main shaft 45 'of thebusiness machine in a conventional manner by means of nonillustrated cam-controlled drive sectors. I v

, The previously mentioned key 17 for selecting a machine run is constructed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 as a forked key lever whose arms 46 and 47 are mounted on the'clearing shaft 48. Two parallel rectangular guide plates or followers 49 and 50 are mounted on the arm 46 and extend in the direction of the bank 50f control keys. In the intermediate space between the guide plates 49 and 50, a pin 51 (FIG. 3) fo'rm'lockingly engages, a hidden key 52 which is displaceably mounted in the bank of control keys.

Both arms 46 and 47 are provided with shanks 53, 54 which are firmly connected to one another by a traverse 55 and serve for receiving the wide key head 19 (FIG. 1) thereon. The arms 46,47 are provided with projections 56, 57 to which a tension spring 59, 60 is 6 respectively connected. The springs 59, 60 maintain the machine run-selector key 17 in inoperative position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hidden or blind key 52 adjustable by the machine run-selector key 17 cooperates by means of a pin 51 thereof inter alia with a blocking slide 61 as well as a control slide 62, which is connected through an articulating bar 63 with a releasing sector 64 of the conventionally known blocking device 65. The key shaft 66 of the blind key 52 acts on an abutment 67 of a differential mechanism slider 68 which is in driving connection by means of an articulating bar 69 with the differential mechanism 70 of the control key bank 5. The differentiating mechanism 70, by means of the tension rod 71, adjusts or sets the nonillustrated machine run-selector device and the control device, whose construction can be readily determined by having reference to US. Pat. No. 3,l8l,784 of G. Becker, which is assigned to the assignee of the instant application, and further adjusts or sets the indicating wheels 43 and 44 by means of the rod 72 and the tooth sector 73.

The control key 18 (FIG. 3) is constructed in a manner similar to that of the machine run-selector key 17, the arms 74, 75 of the control key 18 being mounted on the releasing shaft 48. At the side of the arm 75 facing the bank 5 of control keys, there are riveted two guide plates or followers 76 and 77 which are provided for guiding a pin 78 of another hidden or blind key 79.

The pin 78 of the blind key 79 cooperates with the aforementioned blocking slide.6l and control slide 62, while the shaft 80 of the blind key 79 acts on the differential mechanism slider 68 in the depressed condition of the blind key 79.

The operation of the aforedescribed hereinafter in detail:

The control keys 9,13 and 18 as well as the machine run-selector keys 10 and 17 are formed as releasing keys which, in addition to their control function, also act to release the machine 'runs associated therewith and the selection of corresponding calculating mechanisms.

The machine run-selector keys 10, when introducing a transaction, control one of the subtotal adding mechanisms 11, '12, the totalizing mechanism 14, as well asthe main adding mechanism 16, moreover effect the setting of the mode-control to the mode Addition and release the respective addition machine run if the transactiomposting keys 7, 8 are depressed. The machine run selector key 17 which, in the embodiment of my invention, is provided for introducing the transactions for the most often sold foodstuffs and is constructed as an adding mechanism-selector key, maintains the differential mechanism slider 68 in the first position by means of the blind key 52 when the selector key 17. is depressed, after the blocking sector 64 has released the machine run in aconventional manner. In this position, the totalizing mechanism 14 and the main adding mechanism. 16 are selected in addition to the subtotal adding mechanism 12, and the audevice is given tomatic mode-control is simultaneously adjusted or set After completion of the individual transaction-posting machine runs, the intermediate sum or the final sum of the transactions introduced into the totalizing mechanism 14 for the respective business operation can be drawn upon demand respectively by means of the control key 13 or the control key 18. For the final sum sequence, the blind key 79 is transferred into its effective position by the control key 18, and in that position it maintains the differential mechanism slide 68 in the second position. in this second position of the differential mechanism slide 68, only the totalizing mechanism 14 is selected and is brought into meshing engagement with the teeth 34. For the machine run terminating in the mode final or total sum the totalizing mechanism is readjusted to zero and the sum derived therefrom is printed in a conventional manner on a voucher and is rendered visible by the indicator wheels 43, 44.

The machine run-selector key 17 and the control key 18 can, when required, be also naturally formed as pressure keys with a straight-extending shaft or shafts. FIG. 4 shows a cash register having a machine runselector key 17' of such construction. Moreover, it' is also possible to employ the keys 17 and 18 as multifunction keys because they operate by means of the blind keys associated therewith in the control key bank 5 in a similar manner as heretofore known multi-function keys.

lclaim:

1. Setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature extending in the direction of and inclined to said column of transaction-posting keys, said key head being of such size and shape as to be capable of receiving within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transactionposting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said columns of transaction-posting keys.

2. Setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature adapted to receive within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said control keys and machine run-selector keys.

. Setting devlce for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature adapted to receive within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said columns of transaction-posting keys, one of said machine run-selector keys and said other control key being constructed as double-armed key levers.

4. Setting device according to claim 3, wherein a bank of said control keys has a blind key, and including a follower at one of said double-armed key levers, respectively, said follower being in formlocking operative connection with said blind key.

5. Setting device according to claim 3, wherein said double-armed key levers of said one machine runselector key and said other control key are mounted on a common axis, and including respective traverse means firmly connecting the respective double-armed key levers to one another.

6. Setting device according to claim 1, wherein one of said machine run-selector keys and one of said control keys are formed with said concave profile of given curvature and are actuable selectively with the ball of the hand, with a thumb and with at least one finger.

7. Setting device according to claim 1, wherein one of said machine run-selector keys and one of said control keys are formed with said curved profile and have the .construction of pressure keys extending in a straight line.

8. Setting device according to claim 4, including a differential mechanism slider operatively engageable with said other control key and said blind key and movable thereby into a specific position associated with a setting of a control mode Addition and with the selectionof a corresponding calculating mechanism of the business machine.

9. Setting device according to claim 4, wherein said blind key is adjustable by said other control key, and including a differential mechanism slider, said slider and said blind key cooperating for controlling a control mode Final Sum" and for selecting a totalizing mechanism of the business machine. 

1. Setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature extending in the direction of and inclined to said column of transaction-posting keys, said key head being of such size and shape as to be capable of receiving within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said columns of transaction-posting keys.
 2. Setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature adapted to receive within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said columns of transaction-posting keys, some of said control keys and of said machine run-selector keys being disposed in respective rows on said keyboard, and another of said control keys being located beneath said rows of control keys and machine run-selector keys, said other control key having a head extending in width transversely over the combined width of said rows of control keys and machine run-selector keys.
 3. Setting device for a registering business machine comprising a keyboard including a plurality of columns of keys for posting transactions, a plurality of keys for selecting different machine runs and a plurality of control keys, at least one key of said machine run-selector keys and said control keys being located on said keyboard below said transaction-posting keys and having a key head formed with a concave profile of given curvature adapted to receive within the concavity thereof the ball of the hand of a person operating the business machine, said key head extending transversely to said column of transaction-posting keys over a width corresponding to the width of at least three of said columns of transaction-posting keys, one of said machine run-selector keys and said other control key being constructed as double-armed key levers.
 4. Setting device according to claim 3, wherein a bank of said control keys has a blind key, and including a follower at one of said double-armed key levers, respectively, said follower being in formlocking operative connection with said blind key.
 5. Setting device according to claim 3, wherein said double-armed key levers of said one machine run-selector key and said other control key are mounted on a common axis, and including respective traverse means firmly connecting the respective double-armed key levers to one another.
 6. Setting device according to claim 1, wherein one of said machine run-selector keys and one of said control keys are formed with said concave profile of given curvature and are actuable selectively with the ball of the hand, with a thumb and with at least one finger.
 7. Setting device according to claim 1, wherein one of said machine run-selector keys and one of said control keys are formed with said curved profile and have the construction of pressure keys extending in a straight line.
 8. Setting device according to claim 4, including a differential mechanism slider Operatively engageable with said other control key and said blind key and movable thereby into a specific position associated with a setting of a control mode ''''Addition'''' and with the selection of a corresponding calculating mechanism of the business machine.
 9. Setting device according to claim 4, wherein said blind key is adjustable by said other control key, and including a differential mechanism slider, said slider and said blind key cooperating for controlling a control mode ''''Final Sum'''' and for selecting a totalizing mechanism of the business machine. 